Kan-Opener
Kan-Opener is a competitor robot that competed in Series 5 to 7 of Robot Wars, plus the second series of Extreme and the 2016 series. Although Kan-Opener never progressed beyond the first round in any of its four main competition appearances, it won two separate annihilators, one in Extreme 2 and the other in Series 7. This made Kan-Opener the only robot ever to defend an annihilator title. The Kan-Opener team have actually maneufactured many different versions of Kan-Opener to replace one after it gets retired but still always maintains the same shape, each incarnation has cost £10000 to build. Kan-Opener's weapon as seen in the picture is a pair of scorpion-like pincers that are based on the jaws of life used by rescuers. Robot History Series 5 The number 22 seed Atomic 2 was Kan-Opener's opponent in Round 1 of the Fifth Wars. Atomic 2 was very quick to flip over Kan-Opener, which had a self-righting arm fitted with a small glove. This self-righting arm failed to work, but Atomic 2 flipped Kan-Opener back onto its wheels. Kan-Opener was tossed onto its back again by Atomic 2 before it could use its weaponry, and pitted at the end of the battle. Series 6 In Round 1 of Series 6, Kan-Opener faced Double Trouble, Demolition Man and Fluffy. It began stronger than in Series 5, hooking its claw around Demolition Man and grappling with the meter high robot, whilst beaching Double Trouble on top of it. However, Fluffy rushed into the fray, slamming and gouging several blows in Kan-Opener's side.Kan-Opener lost all mobility, remaining pinned to Demolition Man, but Double Trouble released itself, slamming clean into Kan-Opener's side. Kan-Opener was separated from Demolition Man and counted out, before Double Trouble slammed it into another wall and Sir Killalot put it on the floor flipper. However, Kan-Opener had already done enough damage to Demolition Man to drag it out alongside it. Extreme 2 Kan-Opener fought in the Annihilator competition of Robot Wars Extreme Series 2 with Major Tom, Thermidor 2, Typhoon 2, Raging Reality and Revenge of Trouble & Strife. It was flipped around by Raging Reality and Thermidor 2 in the first round and didn't do too much. During an attack from Typhoon 2, the tip of one of Kan-Opener's claws speared the cone spinner, stopping the Air Cadets machine from spinning, and it was unable to start spinning again. After Raging Reality flipped and immobilised Typhoon 2, the remaining five continued on. In Round 2, Raging Reality broke down after Kan-Opener sank its claws into it. In the next round, Kan-Opener was through once more after Revenge of Trouble and Strife had been flipped and immobilised by Thermidor 2 before Kan-Opener pushed it down the pit. For the fourth round, Kan-Opener's claws had been greased up, so it was one of the more aggressive along robots with Thermidor 2. Major Tom finally dropped out after breaking down and getting severely damaged by the house robots leaving Kan-Opener and Thermidor 2 to go through to the Annihilator final. It started off with Thermidor 2 trying to flip Kan-Opener but couldn't due to its large width. Kan-Opener then had Thermidor 2 in its claws trying to get it in the pit with it holding on well, then Kan-Opener grappled with Thermidor 2's wheel but Thermidor 2 got away. The two robots then found themselves in the CPZ getting attacked by Sergeant Bash and Shunt but they escaped. After Thermidor 2 tried flipping it over in a few failed attempts and Kan-Opener buried its claws into the lobster-like machine, Thermidor 2 was beginning to look damaged with holes and scratches spreading all over its armour. As the last 10 seconds of the fight started counting down, Kan-Opener slowly pushed Thermidor 2 towards the pit and with only four seconds to go, Kan-Opener managed to get it down claiming the title and becoming Annihilator champion, while setting the record for the longest bout to not go to a Judges' Decision. Series 7 Kan-Opener fought against Barbaric Response, Big Nipper andGrim Reaper in Round 1 of the Seventh Wars. It started its opening round melee by getting its pincers to crush onto Barbaric Response's wheel guards, breaking them and crushing into the wheels. Whilst causing a large amount of damage, it couldn't pry the pincers out of Barbaric Response for the remaining duration of the battle. It edged Barbaric Response towards the pit but couldn't nudge Barbaric Response in, with the remaining time. It is disputed whether Kan-Opener had broken down by this point or whether it was simply unable to push Barbaric Response, it wasn't officially counted out and was included in the Judges' decision, which went against it. Kan-Opener was out in the first round once more. After going out of Robot Wars in Round 1 for a 3rd time in a row, Kan-Opener was given the opportunity to defend its title in the Series 7 Annihilator contest along with Ripper, Flippa, Robochicken, Ewe 2 and Raging Knightmare, therefore being the only non-flipper in the Annihilator. The first round,as described by Andy Kane was "5 flippers and 1 crusher." Kan-Opener survived the first round, despite nearly getting flipped out the arena twice. Robochicken had been turned over by Ripper straight away and was unable to recover, allowing Kan-Opener to go through as a result. In spite of this, Kan-Opener collected an also immobile Ewe 2 between its claws, and pushed it into the pit, even though Robochicken was already eliminated. In the next round, Flippa failed to make it into the arena due to technical problems, putting Kan-Opener through by default. The third round battle started as a result, where Kan-Opener was able to avoid a contest of flippers that eventually resulted in Ewe 2 being stranded on its side. However, despite Ewe 2's immobility, Kan-Opener pierced the thin armour of Raging Knightmare, and dragged it towards the pit. Ewe 2 was already being counted out, when Kan-Opener held Raging Knightmare over the pit. Although Raging Knightmare hung above elimination, Kan-Opener could not free its claws from Raging Knightmare's armour until Ewe 2 had already been counted out. Kan-Opener still dropped Raging Knightmare in the pit regardless, making this the second battle in a row where Kan-Opener pitted a qualifying machine. It was perceived by Jonathan Pearce that Kan-Opener's team were very good friends with Team Roaming Robots. As a result, it was unsurprising in the fourth round that Kan-Opener teamed up with Ripper to dispose of Raging Knightmare. Like in the last round, Kan-Opener pierced the armour of Raging Knightmare, creating a huge hole, but struggled to release its prey. Kan-Opener held Raging Knightmare over the pit, and Ripper buffeted the back of Kan-Opener repeatedly to separate the two robots. Kan-Opener and Ripper would then meet in the final. The Final started off with Ripper getting a series of flips in on Kan-Opener, but Kan-Opener was unharmed due to it being invertible. Ripper then found itself going round in circles and was unable to manoeuvre properly. Kan-Opener tested Ripper's mobility by driving away, proving that it was to become a champion once again. Kan-Opener then crushed in on Ripper's titanium side panels, noticeably bending them, causing Ripper's top armour to come off, all whilst Ripper was being counted out. At this point, Kan-Opener was smoking and could not be freed from Ripper, but as Ripper was immobilised anyway, Kan-Opener claimed the Annihilator title for a second time in a row. Live Events 2004 UK Championships (Winter Tour) Kan-Opener took part in its first UK Championship outside of Robot Wars in 2004 with D2-Spec, it only had one qualifier match at Newport where it was beaten by Terrorhurtz. 2005 UK Championships (Winter Tour) As E-Spec, Kan-Opener came back the next year and took on Taurus in its first qualifier match at Merthyr-Tydfil. Here, it got pushed down the pit and despite still grabbing hold of Taurus and not letting go, Kan-Opener had lost the fight. Next at Macclesfield it took on the top seed and reigning champion Terrorhurtz, its armour held up well to Terrorhurtz's axe blows and managed to grab hold of it at one point, but Terrorhurtz fought back and lopped Kan-Opener's jaws off the mechanism which left Kan-Opener weaponless and the judge to give an easy decision that went against Kan-Opener. 2006 UK Championships Kan-Opener had also signed up to the 2006 UK Championships at Wicksteed where it shared its pod with 4th seed Beast, Ka-Pow! and American robot Sewer Snake. It lost its first fight to Beast after getting stacked against the arena wall and managed to beat Sewer Snake after crumpling one of its axles which had immobilised it. Next it took on Ka-Pow! where to take on them, had flat-plates added to the tips of the jaws, unfortunatly it didn't work out right as it got embedded in Ka-Pow!s link-hole opening, Ka-Pow! was then able to push Kan-Opener into the pit. After losing its battles in its pod, Kan-Opener also came back for the Annihilator along with Dantomkia, Iron-Awe 3, Spike,Tanto & Disconstructor. It automatically qualified through the first round as Disconstructor got immobilised on the arena wall. Iron-Awe 3 also pulled out due to a technical problem which meant it was just down to 4. Kan-Opener grabbed Spike and had a hard time trying to get it in the pit so it went for Tanto instead who ended up shoving Kan-Opener backwards into the pit. 2006 Winter Tour After the UK Championships, Kan-Opener came back for the Winter Tour the same year. It won its first qualifier match at Doncaster where it shoved Velocirippa in the pit and then defeated Behemoth in its next qualifier battle at Portsmouth. Both wins had given Kan-Opener entry into the finals at Folkestone. Here it took on Iron-Awe 3 in the first round where after a tussle it ended up out of the arena and was eliminated. 2007 UK Championships Kan-Opener came back for the 2007 UK Championships as the 3rd seed where it shared its pod with Thor and Das Gepäck. It managed to deal with both robots in the same fashion - grab hold of them and dump them in the pit which gave it the qualification to go through to the finals of the competition where in the first round it fought Terrorhurtz. Kan-Opener had been fitted with flat plates and Terrorhurtz had a different blade for its axe. Kan-Opener managed to withstand the punishment from the ex-UK Champion's axe and grabbed hold of it once, but Terrorhurtz broke free and trapped Kan-Opener in the corner. In the corner, Kan-Opener took a lot more hits which this time damaged the chassis and also punctured a tyre which had ruined its manoeverability and it ended up in the pit. The damage it took was irreparible and it couldn't be repaired for the loser's melee, this event was the last for Kan-Opener E-Spec. 2007 Winter Tour After the retirement of Kan-Opener E-Spec at the UK Championships, Kan-Opener came back as F-Spec for the 2007 Winter Tour. It lost its first qualifier match against Beast due to a faulty reciever, but won its next battle at Portsmouth against Envy and The Saint and also lost to Dantomkia at its next battle at the same event. Its win over Hades and Ripper at Maidstone added on an extra points for it to qualify for the finals at Nottingham. In the first round, it defeated Velocirippa on a judges decision and in the semi-final, dumped TillyEwe 2 into the pit. In the final, it met Iron-Awe 5 who gave Kan-Opener a few flips but Kan-Opener was unharmed and was the more dominant as it managed to get its jaw inside Iron-Awe 5 on one point. Unfortunatly, Kan-Opener got flipped against the wall and was thrown out the arena meaning it finished 2nd. 2008 UK Championships Kan-Opener came back for the 2008 UK Championships as G-Spec. It won its qualifier match against Edge Hog after dropping it down the pit. In round 1 of the finals, it was the more dominant against Hortron until Kan-Opener died due to a faulty speed controller and was elliminated. 2008 Winter Tour Kan-Opener also took part in the Winter Tour in 2008 where it managed to defeat Maelstrom in its only qualifier match at Portsmouth which gave it points to go through to the finals at Maidstone, but unfortunatly couldn't make it and had to pull out. 2009 UK Championships In the 2009 UK Championships, Kan-Opener only took part in 2 qualifier matches. It lost its 1st to Envy after it got flipped against the arena wall and couldn't get down and then lost its next battle to Big Nipper at Cardiff after getting shoved down the pit. Other Events As of 2012 there have been nine versions of Kan-Opener (taking a letter sequence as opposed to a numerical sequence), with a further two in the build stage. Both of them (G and H) were sold to Team Bud after Team Kan-Opener retired from the event circuit. Tom Kane has also become a member of Team Bud, adding Kan-Opener G and H to Team Bud's armada of robots. Kan Opener G has been kept by Jason (previously a member of Team Bud) and Kan Opener H has been sold to Mario of Team KODOX. In 2015, Jason built Kan-Opener J which was a complete departure from previous models in shape, but still retains the same design concept in being invertible with the crushing jaws. It is also the version that entered the 2016 series of Robot Wars. Kan-Opener H-spec in original shape participated in the Bronebots 2016 competition in Moscow. After this event Marco from VHS-Robots took over Kan-Opener H-spec. Kan-Opener J-spec debuted at the Robot Wars live event at Portsmouth 2015 where it did reasonably well in the friendly fights. It also participated in the Robot Wars World Championships 2015, held in Colchester. In the first round, Kan-Opener was the last robot left standing - Rybot could not self-right after it was flipped by Maelstrom, the latter breaking down after a combined attack from Kan-Opener and Tough as Nails. Both robots qualified, but Kan-Opener also lodged Tough as Nails in the arena wall, immobilising it. However, Kan-Opener broke down within the opening moments of its second round fight, leaving Gravity and Tiberius to fight alone. 2016 Series Kan-Opener appeared in Episode 4. In the first round, Kan-Opener fought Gary Cairns for a second time, drawn against PP3D, as well as newcomers Apollo and Sweeney Todd. As Kan-Opener had entered the arena directly in front of the pit release button, they immediately reversed and opened the pit. It then targeted the dangerous spinner of PP3D, knocking it away, but Kan-Opener was tossed by Apollo, though Kan-Opener pushed the inverted Apollo in return. Once it grabbed hold of PP3D, it did not let go, driving themselves over the floor flipper, which overturned the locked pair, and the two were only freed when Apollo flipped both at once. Kan-Opener drove back over the floor flipper, and was thrown over by it, but returned to grab PP3D. However, it was at this point that Apollo launched Kan-Opener across the arena, knocking out its safety link upon landing, eliminating it from the competition alongside Sweeney Todd. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 22 *Losses: 18 Category:Competitors Category:UK Robot Wars Competitors Category:Robot Wars Live Event Competitors Category:Robots Live! 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